This contains pretty much every element one could want from a Mario game.

I better see Princess Daisy then.

We have Pauline though On another topic, have you guys seen the video by Digital Foundry on the things Nintendo did to get the game running at 60fps while looking amazing? Its great, a lot of techniques other developers should be using on the Switch.

I just realized that this game shows what a 3D Kirby game could be like. Make it happen, Nintendo / Hal!

This is ultimately what is really upsetting about the game, to me. It would work really well as a 3D Kirby title (in fact, I think a lot of the collect-a-thon spirit could have been used for 3D Kirby and Mario could have stayed a linear 3D platformer), but I understand why you would want to have a mainline Mario as a highlight in 2017.

The game is gorgeous. So much to do, so much that I feel I haven't done, what the HECK is with these Kingdoms with 60+ Moons. There's something to be said about how easily obtainable they are, but that allowed the developers to put in a crap load.

I was honestly worried in the leadup to this game that it would go too far in the direction of open world level design and take away some of the things I loved about the last few 3D Mario games, but I was foolish to doubt EAD Tokyo's abilities. This game somehow manages to feel open and explorable while still maintaining a real focus and leading you in the right direction, and weaves platforming just as good and satisfying as their previous games into that structure. It's almost Metroid-like in how it seems to combine all the best aspects of both openness and linearity at the same time.

I just realized that this game shows what a 3D Kirby game could be like. Make it happen, Nintendo / Hal!

This is ultimately what is really upsetting about the game, to me. It would work really well as a 3D Kirby title (in fact, I think a lot of the collect-a-thon spirit could have been used for 3D Kirby and Mario could have stayed a linear 3D platformer), but I understand why you would want to have a mainline Mario as a highlight in 2017.

The game is gorgeous. So much to do, so much that I feel I haven't done, what the HECK is with these Kingdoms with 60+ Moons. There's something to be said about how easily obtainable they are, but that allowed the developers to put in a crap load.

To be honest, I didn't get a Kirby feel from it. I got a Banjo-Kazooie or Banjo Tooie feel from it. Transformations, collectible coins in every stage, not leaving the world once you've collected the McGuffin, the jumping tricks to extend how far you can jump. This is the direction the Banjo games were heading in, but never quite reached.

Some of them seem very non-intuitive. Diving, in particular, is very strange. It can be used to break a lot of platforming sequences so I understand why it's a more complex input, but it also doesn't seem to work right at all.

Not having a dedicated run button like in 3D Land/World is a bit jarring, too. I hated it in 3D Land, and tolerated it in 3D World because the level design was so much better. Now that it's gone, its absence is noted. While I like rolling a great deal in concept, it's also very awkward because of the slope momentum the game often puts in place as a hindrance.

I'm about 300+ Power Moons in now, still enjoying the experience a great deal.

With the game leaked and videos and screenshots everywhere, that's going to be hard.

So, avoiding spoilers of this game has proved to be easier than I thought. (I know, I'm jinxing myself by saying this now.) For me, since this game has come out, there's been a few post made in this thread over that opening weekend and then nothing. It's like the enthusiasm for this game just died. No one really seems to be talking about it and the impressions seem to be shifting from greatest Mario game ever by reviewers to a good not great Mario game by the players. It doesn't seem to be generating many topics or discussion compared to, say, BotW when that came out.

Now, perhaps that might be the nature of Mario games compared to Zelda games in which one is a platforming challenge of getting from point A to point B so there's not really a lot to discuss or elaborate on besides levels or challenges one may like or dislike whereas with Zelda, there are a lot more layers to discuss like story, puzzles, combat, exploration. Thus, it just may be harder for a Mario game to generate more discussion. Yet, I am surprised at the silence this game seems to have gotten after release. Maybe it is just that people are too busy playing it to comment on it but it does strike me as a curious and a potential warning that perhaps the game has been overhyped a bit.

I was also surprised at how some people seemed to have beat the game over the opening weekend as well. I thought this was going to be a large Mario game with a lot of secrets and moons to collect but people seemed to finish the story so fast. My experience with the past few 3D Mario games was that it took me longer than a couple days to beat the story but then I like to look around in levels and explore them a bit rather than immediately rushing to the end point.

Thus, I wonder, what is the current perception of this game? Great, good, all-time best, so-so? Is it just that the NWR forums are a bit silent on the game but it's being talked about a lot more in other places? Are people playing something else right now and getting to Odyssey later? I know it's working out great for me in not spoiling anything but I'm just surprised at how very few waves it seems to be creating in the gaming community after the big splash it seemed to have on release.

I'm also surprised at the lack of discussion for this masterpiece. Now I know you can (and will) blame me for that, but I've always been more of a responder than a topic starter so if no one is making comments then I'll have nothing to say. Especially when I can be playing Mario instead!

Earlier in the thread, I made a comment about this being the best game within the past ten years as a sort of joke-hype, but I would actually say it turns out to be true. It's way better than Zelda BotW for starters, but I don't think any other game I've played in the past decade has had the same breadth of variety and creativity as this game. It manages to blend new ideas with existing ones such that it feels fresh and familiar at the same time, a culmination of all the best parts of Mario without feeling like a rehash. Mario's movement versatility in Odyssey is the best it's been since Sunshine, I originally underestimated just how well he can get around in this game but after learning the tricks just finding ways to get through a world is fun. Like any game it isn't perfect, but it's every bit as good as the best Mario games of their times.

I wouldn't worry too much at the number of days people took to complete the story, for a variety of reasons. First, it doesn't tell you the number of hours people actually put into it, and second, there are plenty of moons you can't get until you complete the story. To me, the length of the story portion feels the longest of any 3D Mario game thus far, and that wasn't even a third of my total play time so far. If you try to collect every available moon in a kingdom before moving on to the next one, you'll certainly be at it a while.

I think one difference between this and Zelda BotW is the time that the hype had to build. We've known about BotW for years before it actually came out, and it was the first all-new main Zelda game in six years. Conversely, Odyssey was revealed about a year before it came out, though we didn't see much of it until later. And there had been no shortage of new Mario games on Wii U and 3DS. With that in mind, I could see more people rushing out to get Zelda on release rather than Mario.

I'm also surprised at the lack of discussion for this masterpiece. Now I know you can (and will) blame me for that, but I've always been more of a responder than a topic starter so if no one is making comments then I'll have nothing to say. Especially when I can be playing Mario instead!

I get that. There have been times I've felt the creative juices flowing through me but no new posts were being made to give me material to work with. At the same time, there are moments where I have meant to post more but it's just easier to think something rather than spend the time to type it out. With Zelda, because of the different experiences people could have based on how they played and travelled, it was kind of more personal making everyone's thoughts and adventures kind of personal even if you'll all end up seeing a lot of the same stuff eventually.

However, you may have something about the length of hype train. I think Mario 3D World kind of went through the same thing premiering at E3 and then realizing later that fall although people were less excited by its initial premiere and warmed up to it by its release yet I feel like it seemed to get more of a reaction or have people talk a bit more about it then what has happened with Odyssey. Of course, not having a Switch or having played the game I guess I'm part of the problem in limiting Odyssey discussion whereas Zelda was released on both Wii U and Switch allowing for more options to have people play it at the same time.

Personally I still think BOTW is a superior game, but Odyssey is still fantastic, I think the lack of discussion, like stated before is that BOTW was more about discovery, everything someone found seemed like a big discovery that they wished to share with others. It was like being an explorer just waiting to share your newest discovery, and when you have a game as epic and as wide open with BOTW you are going to have a longer, more interesting discussion. Mario games, on the other hand seem less community oriented and more personal.

Well after 3 weeks my Odyssey is finally over. All objectives completed and maxed out my moons with 999. The game was pretty awesome like I expected from Tokyo EAD. It kind of reminded me of Wario Ware in a way with just the huge amount of different styles of gameplay it had all over each map. The game never got old because of this and why it was so easy to just get completely addicted each night since I was always discovering something new and couldn't stop myself.

Of course the comparison to Wario Ware lead to my only real complaint, a lot of gameplay sections are kind of shorter then I would have liked. Especially with some of the more linear platforming sections, right when the action starts to pick up the area is done and doesn't reach it's full potential I feel. This is why I wouldn't mind an Odyssey 2 that's like Galaxy 2 and increases the complexity in it's level design and gameplay. The game has a ton of great concepts and the controls are top notch, so I'd love to see Nintendo really go all out with what this style of Mario can do like Galaxy 2 did with many of Galaxy 1's concepts.

I'm still really early in the game, but I've definitely been getting that impression too. Like you said it's a lot like Super Mario Galaxy in that it touches on a lot of different ideas, which is great because nothing ever overstays its welcome, but some things feel like they could have been fleshed out more.

This game has been pure fun for me. The frequency of the moons and how segmented each objective is in the level despite the levels being more expansive than the last couple of Mario games makes it great for someone like me who might have a spare 30 minutes a day right now to play this game.

There are definitely some levels that are duds though, IMO. Though to the games' benefit so far, if you're not feeling good about a world you're playing in, it's really easy to critical path your way to bounce to the next one.

Finally - the face Mario makes in menu when you put the selection on the save option makes me laugh each time. Delightful.

I think so many beat Super Mario Odyssey over opening weekend was twofold: 1) It's rather easy to do the bare minimum story-related Power Moons and some other things and beat the game quickly, and 2) This was it for me, I didn't want to ending spoiled since it was getting hyped upon the game's leak.

It ended up taking me about 45 hours to get every mission-related Power Moon in the game, and by the time I initially reached the ending, I had only a fraction of the total amount available. The post-game is immense with added Power Moons to collect in previous kingdoms, the already visited kingdoms have anywhere from 20-something to 90-something Power Moons to find in the first place (everywhere seems to be a new point of interest to investigate for a Moon), the platforming challenges are enjoyable, and while the game never gets Grandmaster Galaxy or Champions Road level of difficulty, it's a fun journey for the most part.

Things like certain assists with moves and capture abilities being motion control only hurt, and many of the Power Moons don't have much to them. They're simple challenges that most kingdoms seem to have, such as catch this rabbit, find Captain Toad, ground pound this specific spot, get this dog to dig up a Power Moon, and so forth.

Overall, however, between Super Mario Odyssey and Breath of the Wild, there's going to be a fight in my mind to choose which game to pick for my game of the year.